Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands,

independent Commonwealth nation (2015 est. pop. 587,000), c.15,500 sq mi (40,150 sq km), SW Pacific, E of New Guinea. The islands that constitute the nation of the Solomon Islands—GuadalcanalGuadalcanal, volcanic island (2009 pop. 93,613), c.2,510 sq mi (6,500 sq km), South Pacific, largest of the Solomon Islands. Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands, is there. The island is largely jungle. Mt. Makarakombou rises to 8,028 ft (2,447 m)......Click the link for more information., Malaita, New Georgia, the Santa Cruz Islands, Choiseul, Ysabel (Santa Isabel), San Cristobal (Makira), the Shortland Islands, and countless smaller islands—are only part of the 900-mi (1,448-km) Solomon Islands chain, which also includes BougainvilleBougainville, volcanic island (1990 est. pop. 154,000), c.3,880 sq mi (10,050 sq km), SW Pacific, largest in the Solomon Islands chain. With Buka and smaller neighboring islands, it forms an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea. Bougainville is rugged and densely forested......Click the link for more information. and Buka, which are politically part of Papua New Guinea. The capital is HoniaraHoniara, town (2009 pop. 64,609), capital of the Solomon Islands. Located on Guadalcanal in the SW Pacific, Honiara was rebuilt to replace the former capital of Tulaghi at the end of World War II and occupies the site of an important American campaign against the Japanese......Click the link for more information., on Guadalcanal.

Land, People, and Economy

The Solomons are mountainous and heavily wooded. The inhabitants are largely Melanesians, although some Polynesians live in the outlying atolls. About one third of the people belong to the Church of Melanesia, and there are minorities of Roman Catholics and other Christian denominations. English is the official language, but a Melanesian pidgin is the lingua franca; there are about 120 indigenous languages.

Farming, fishing, and forestry are the main occupations. Cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit are grown. Economic development has been slow, and industry is limited to fish processing, mining, and lumbering, with the last contributing most to the nation's economy. There are large undeveloped mineral resources. By the 1990s, logging levels had become unsustainable and the government instituted regulatory legislation, but large-scale logging was nonetheless expected exhaust the nation's forests sometime in the 2010s. Timber, fish, coconut products, palm oil, and cocoa are the main exports, while foodstuffs, machinery, manufactured goods, fuels, and chemicals are imported. The main trading partners are China, Australia, and South Korea.

Government

The country is governed under the constitution of 1978. The monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the governor-general, is the head of state. The government is headed by the prime minister. The unicameral National Parliament has 50 members, all elected by popular vote for four-year terms. Administratively, the Solomon Islands are divided into nine provinces and the capital territory.

History

A Spanish explorer, Álvaro de Mendeña de Neira, was the first European to visit the islands (1568), but his colonizing efforts failed. European settlers and missionaries arrived throughout the 18th and 19th cent. In 1885 the German New Guinea Company established control over the N Solomons. The southern islands were placed under a British protectorate in 1893; the eastern islands were added to it in 1898. In 1900, Germany transferred its islands (except Bougainville and Buka) to Great Britain in return for British withdrawal from W Samoa. Bougainville and Buka were occupied by Australian forces during World War I and were placed under Australian mandate by the League of Nations in 1920. During World War II, Choiseul, New Georgia, Ysabel, and Guadalcanal were occupied by the Japanese (1942) but were liberated by U.S. forces (1943–44).

The Solomon Islands became self-governing in 1976 and independent in 1978. The government is parliamentary, with a governor-general representing the British crown, a prime minister and cabinet, and an elected unicameral parliament. In Aug., 1997, Bartholomew Ulufa'alu became prime minister after winning a leadership vote in parliament. Ethnic strife broke out on Guadalcanal in 1999, as island natives fought with immigrants from the island of Malaita. In 2000 the battling between ethnic-based militias intensified, and the Malaita militia took Ulufa'alu hostage in June. The prime minister resigned under duress; Mannasseh Sogavare, who was chosen to succeed him, pledged to seek a resolution to the violence.

After elections held in Dec., 2001, Sir Allan Kemakeza was elected prime minister. Despite efforts to negotiate an end to the violence, it continued, ruining the economy and bankrupting the country. In July, 2003, an Australian-led peacekeeping force, the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), entered the Solomons at the government's request to restore order. RAMSI was largely successful, disarming rebels, arresting their leaders, and enabling people displaced by the violence to return home. The military component of RAMSI was not phased out until 2013; afterward, police officers associated with RAMSI remained in the Solomons until 2017.

Corruption accusations against several government ministers led to large losses for Kemakeza's party in the Apr., 2006, elections. Former deputy prime minister Snyder Rini was elected to succeed Kemakeza as prime minister, but Rini's election sparked protests in Honiara by demonstrators upset with his ties to what they regarded as a corrupt administration. The protests turned into anti-Chinese riots because the corruption has been associated with the money and development brought by recent Chinese investors. Additional Australian and New Zealand forces were sent to the Solomons to help restore order, and Rini resigned when he lost parliamentary support. In May, Mannasseh Sogavare was elected prime minister with the support of the opposition parties.

The new government's relations with Australia subsequently became strained when Australia's ambassador criticized a Solomons investigation into the post-election riots as a potential whitewash and was expelled. The situation worsed when Sogavare appointed Julian Moti, an Australian lawyer of Fijian descent who was wanted in Australia on child sex charges, as the Solomons attorney general. Australia sought Moti's extradition from Papua New Guinea, where Moti was arrested (Sept., 2006) while in transit. Moti managed to flee with apparent help from Papua New Guinea and Solomons officials, and then entered the Solomons illegaly and was held there. (His appointment as attorney general was suspended as a result of his illegal entry.)

A Solomons police investigation into Moti's illegal entry resulted in a raid on the prime minister's office. Sogavare criticized the raid as an Australian violation of his nation's sovereignty because of the presence of Australians (hired by the Solomons government) throughout the police force; the Australian government denied having any involvement in Solomons police affairs. A Solomons court cleared Moti of all Solomons charges in December, the Australian-born police commissioner was subsequently declared an undesirable immigrant, and in July, 2007, Moti became attorney general. In Apr., 2007, an undersea earthquake and tsunami caused widespread significant destruction in the W Solomon Islands, devastating the nation's second largest city, Gizo.

Sogavare lost a no-confidence vote in Dec., 2007, and Derek Sikua, backed by the oppostion and some former Sogavare supporters, became prime minister. Moti subsequently was deported to Australia; in 2009 the indictment against him was stayed permanently by an Australian judge, a decision upheld (2011) by the High Court, which ended Moti's prosecution. After the Aug., 2010, parliamentary elections, Danny Philip cobbled together a disparate coalition to narrowly secure the prime ministership. Charges of misuse of funds led the coalition's erosion in Nov. 2011 and Philip resigned; Gordon Darcy Lilo succeeded him as prime minister.

Heavy rains led in Apr., 2014, to devastating flash floods in Guadalcanal, especially Honiara, and other parts of the Solomons. The parliamentary elections in Nov., 2014, led the following month to Sogavare's return as prime minister. Sogavare was removed by a no-confidence vote in Nov., 2017, and was succeeded as prime minister by John Hou.

Solomon Islands

an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Guinea in Melanesia. The principal islands are Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Santa Isabel, Malaita, San Cristobal, Choiseul, and New Georgia. Area, 40,400 sq km. Population, 263,200 (1971). The northern islands, including Bougainville, Buka, Nissan, and several atolls, are part of Papua New Guinea. The rest, the larger part of the islands, has been an independent state since 1978. It has an area of 28,400 sq km and a population of 200,000 (1977). The state’s capital is Honiara.

The Solomons are inhabited by several dozen ethnic groups, most of whom belong to the Melanesian race and speak Austronesian or Papuan languages. In addition, there are also Polynesians and Micronesians. Most of the inhabitants of the Solomon Islands are Christians, chiefly Protestants.

Most of the islands are of volcanic origin; the Balbi and Bagana volcanoes are still active. The maximum elevation, 2,743 m, is on Bougainville. The climate is subequatorial and very humid, with mean monthly temperatures of 26°–28°C. The annual precipitation ranges from 2,300 mm to 7,500 mm. Southeasterly trade winds prevail from May to October and northwesterly equatorial monsoons from December to March. The rivers are short and deep.

The islands are extensively covered with evergreen forests of palms, figs, and other trees. Savannas are found in the drier areas, and mangroves fringe the coast. The fauna includes rats, bats, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, giant frogs, wild pigeons, and parrots. The main economic activities are the growing of coconut palms, pineapples, cacao trees, and cotton, as well as fishing and lumbering. Copper is mined on Bougainville.

The Solomon Islands were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator A. Mendaña de Neyra, who obtained gold from the natives and named the islands Islas de Solomón after Solomon’s Land of Gold.

Solomon Islands

Official name: Solomon Islands

Capital city: Honiara

Internet country code: .sb

Flag description: Divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green

Geographical description: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea

Willet,' said Solomon Daisy, who had exhibited some impatience at the intrusion of so unworthy a subject on their more interesting theme, 'when Mr Chester come this morning, did he order the large room?

Why then, I'll tell you what,' said Solomon, speaking softly and with an earnest look.

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